Danbury's downtown and Mill Plain Road corridor can both be destinations

Published 4:44 pm, Tuesday, July 9, 2013

The arrival of the Mill Plain Road section of Danbury as a restaurant mecca could be viewed as bad news for the downtown, which is counting on the Ives Street restaurant district becoming a big-time calling card for a revitalized city center.

After all, some might think the surge in popularity of the city's west side could make it more difficult for proponents of downtown revitalization to attract the public to Main Street and environs.

In that vein, we are sure there are those who feel like the west side could do to the downtown what the Danbury Fair mall did a quarter of a century ago -- turn it into a business district searching for an identity and an enthusiastic clientele.

To be sure, the crowds now seem to prefer the Mill Plain Road corridor, including Lake Avenue Extension, and its many restaurants -- old and new -- to downtown Danbury.

And we love the spirit reflected by Eli Hawli, the owner of two new restaurants in that corridor -- Bambu Restaurant and Market Place Kitchen & Bar.

"Business has been good," Hawli told The News-Times' Dirk Perrefort for a recent story about the Mill Plain Road business district. "And the more restaurants that open the better. It's becoming a real dining district."

On the other side of town, downtown revitalization has a long way to go before Main Street is such a lively, enjoyable place that thousands of people from all around the area count it as one of their favorite places to go.

The building blocks are in place in the downtown, though, and there are already a number of success stories, such as CityCenter events, arts and musical offerings, the Whalers, diverse dining and the impressive growth of the Naugatuck Valley Community College branch.

But that is not enough.

Major strides are needed in several areas, starting with offering more good reasons for people to visit downtown Danbury. There is also a need for more housing, for celebrating the community's diversity and for conducting an aggressive and effective marketing campaign.

But if the champions of revitalization are able to turn the downtown into an attractive destination -- which we believe they should be able to do -- city officials and the business community will not need to fear competition between Mill Plain Road and Main Street.

In fact, if the city plays its cards right, it could wind up with two successful, vibrant centers complementing each other.

Then everyone -- business owners, employees, residents, visitors and the city itself -- will turn out to be a winner.